Ratburger by David Walliams

Yet another great read for 8s and overs from the champion swimmer and irreverent comedian. Here the heroine lives in a tower block with her prawn cocktail crisp eating stepmother and unemployed dad who spends his depressed days at the local pub.

When her pet hamster – who she’d been training to do amazing tricks – is found dead (sob!), she adopts a small rat as a pet. Yep, don’t scream, it looks adorable! But stepmother hates rats so employs rat catcher/burger van owner (ooh, now what exactly is in those burgers???) to catch it.

Zoe decides she has to fight back as any heroine of a great novel should. Rip-roaring fun, reminiscent of the best of Roald Dahl. Enjoy!